The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-02-17
Thoughts for the Month.
From the Southern culfuator and Diris Far

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Last month, plans and arrangements
for the years work were discussed. It's
presumed that by this time every farmer
has matured his plans, and is already
under way in executing them. One OF
the first things to claim his attention is
the preparation of the manure to be used.
He has decided to use composts largely
and he must now prepare them; the
matter cannot be deferred much longer.
Whilst compost will give fair results,
prepared only a month or six weeks in
advance Of its application, the general
drift of experience indicates that better
results ensue where they are prepared
three months in advance. Composts for
cotton should be put up at once, and
care taken that every condition for
proper fermentation be present. These
conditions are proper admixture of
ingredients, decided moisture all through
the mass, and a decided compactness. A
loosely thrown up pile of manure will
become too hot and be greatly injured.
iA.prorss fermentation brings about sew
eral valuable results. First, it reduces
Or breaks down the coarser ingredients,
as hay, straw, leaves or other litter, and
renders the distribution of the compost
easier and more uniform. Uniformity Of
distribution is q matter Of frat impor-
tance. In the next place it renders
inert, insolubte materials active and solu.
BILE. ALI of the nitrogen, for instance, Of
green or fresh manure is insoluble; it is
either in the form of albnminous COM
pounds or Of urea Ia constituent of
nrine), and must be changed to ammonia
or nitric acid, before plaots can appro.
priate it. The danger Of that is, as this
ammonia is formed, it may be driven off
by heat and'be lost. This is to be pre-.
vented by keeping the fermentation
within proper bounds, as above pointed
out, and By covering the heap with a
layer Of rich dirt six or eight inches
thicksto catch and absorb any escaping
ammonia. Another aud very effective
means of preventing loss is using kainit
as one of the ingredients of the compost.
The prevalent idea has been that land
plaster was excellent for that purpose.
But plaster only acts efficiently where
thereis water enough to dissolve it, and
this is not generally the case in q COM
post heap. Kainit is much more soluble
than plaster, and will fix ammonia under
circumstances where plaster will not.
.Kainit is decidedly the best cheap and
available substance for the purpose that
We know.
II has been just stated that kainit
.oughtto boone Of the ingredients OF a
compost heap-what other of the ehemi.
cal or concentrated fertilizers should
enter into it. There need be no hesita-
ton in saying that phosphoric acid, in
some form, should occupy q front place
in this respect. No substance is more
uniyeraallyswsnting in old. long. cropped
lands than phosphoric acid. none, the
application ofwhich, on such lands, has
given more uniformly go"d results.
sBesides kainit aud phosphnric scid, there
are 40 other chemical fertilizers which
need generally enter into composts; in
exceptional cases some others may be
needed; that depends, upon the nature of
the more bulky basis of the compost, and
to this let US turn attention. As rule,
barn yard manure is the main foundation
of composts. 1t consists of the excre-
ment and, urine of horses and cattle
mixed with variable quantity of litter.
With the farmer it is an ever pressing
inquiry how he may increase the quan-
tity and improve the quality Of this most
valuable substance. Asto the FIRST (the
quantity the ready answer of Northern
and European writer's has been by keep
ing more stock. But bear in mind, how.
ever, that this answer comes from regions
where grass aud grain are the leading
crops, and where large cities and dense
population. (largely manufacturing cre'
ate a large demand for food, including
meat. To Northern or English farmer
the question is, shall hay and grain be
sold direct from the farm, or shall they
be converted into meat and milk, and
cheese and butter, and these become the
objects of sale7 He can find sale for
either. With Southern farmer the
conditions are somewhat different. At
present the mass of his landis too poor to
grow grass successfully, and climatic
conditions render small grain crops
rather uncertain. The cities about him
are small, population in sparse, and a
small portion of it engaged in manufac.
lures. Would these surroundings war
rant general increase in the number of
live stock on the farm? That is
extremely doubtful. Except in localities
where there is extended "range," most
farmers have, until recent period,
erred in keeping too much rather than
too little stock. In one direction there
might be a profitable increase, viz, in
raising all the horses and mules they
need, aud possibly the hogs required for
domestic use. Gradually our farms
might be brought up to the requisite
degree of fertility to produce grass and
grain enough for a moderate increase in
the number of milk COWS. There is a
demand for good butter at the South, aud
we ought by all means to strive to work
up to the point of supplying it. But
after all, the increase suggested would be
small, and would not go very fer towards
increasing the quantity of manure. How,
then. can it be done? By more careful